“Somebody gimme a treatstick! I’m hungry! Oh goodie…..it’s Bird Lady! Maybe she’s got one in her pocket for me!” I don’t think this bluebird chick would have cared which hand or beak fed it, had I reached over onto the roses and pulled off one of the grasshoppers to give it. The parents work in tandem but hold at a distance on the pear trees with bugs in beak until we leave the porch, in this case a trip to the store. I can almost hear “will you guys get outa here!? This thing’s getting stale.” For anyone close to us who knows the symbolism of these brightly colored birds…

And what a week it has been. With this heat it’s a good thing the watermelon is plentiful because we’ve been sucking it down to stay hydrated and fueled while caring for everything here. The birds have been working hard too, so their share of the melon crop has been earned. I think they’ve figured out that leaving some juice in the eaten out melon halves attracts a week’s worth of bugs, therefore extending the buffet. Farm and homestead plants need daily monitoring, watering, fertilization and repositioning. Mom’s orchids are flowering for an unexpected bonus round since December, and her Gasteria succulent has divided into a handsome clump on The…